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| “ | You took a son from me. Give me a son, brave thane. Stay with me. Love me... Love me... and I shall weave you riches... beyond imagination. I shall make you the greatest king that ever lived. As long as you hold me in your heart... and this golden horn remains in my keeping... You will forever be King. Forever strong, mighty... and all-powerful. This I promise. This... I swear... | „ |
| ~ Grendel's mother trying to seduce Beowulf. |
Grendel's Mother, also sometimes called "Hag" in the old Viking Beowulf saga, is one of the main antagonists in the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf as well as its many retellings over the years. She has varied between a hideous old hag and a seductive femme fatale (similar to a siren) but has always remained consistent in her motives, to avenge the death of her son Grendel at the hands of the Geatish hero Beowulf.
She was portrayed by Angelina Jolie in the 2007 film adaptation, who also portrayed Lisa Rowe in Girl, Interrupted, Lola in Shark Tale, Fox in Wanted, and Maleficent in the 2014 Disney film of the same name.
Biography[]
Grendel's mother has always been associated with the water and may well have been based on an ancient Slavic water goddess or spirit.
After Grendel was defeated by Beowulf, he retreats to the marshes and dies. Determined to avenge her son's death, his mother kills Hrothgar's most loyal assistant, Æschere. Beowulf, Hrothgar and his men manage to track down her lair under a lake. Beowulf heads into the lair and engages in a fierce battle with Grendel's mother. At first, Grendel's mother gains the upper hand, but Beowulf spots another sword and uses it to decapitate her. Afterwards, Beowulf comes across Grendel's corpse and brings his head home to Heorot as a trophy.
The 1999 film is the first to present Grendel's mother as a shapeshifting seductress. Here she is played by Layla Roberts and prefers using feminine charms rather than violence to achieve her goals. She produced Grendel after seducing Hrothgar and still visits him at night to "sweeten his dreams". When Grendel is killed, she changes from a beautiful, shapely, blonde woman to her true, monstrous form and battles Beowulf. She is ultimately destroyed when the fortress burns down around her.
In the 2007 3D-rendered film, Grendel's mother is depicted as the main antagonist and was not killed off. After Grendel is killed by Beowulf, she vows revenge. When Beowulf enters her cave, she takes the form of a beautiful nude woman with gold skin. She falsely claims that she was impressed by his strength and courage and saw in him the savagery of a beast and the glamour of a king. She swore to make him a king if he would mate with her and give her a son to replace Grendel. She seduced him and they conceived a child together. Their offspring was a perfect gold-skinned male who took the form of a mighty dragon. She and their son went on to attack Beowulf's kingdom, which resulted in the death of both Beowulf and their child.
She then appeared at Beowulf's funeral and stole a kiss from his corpse as it burned on his funeral ship, possibly to steal his soul and torment it even further. She then swam in the ocean to tempt Wiglaf (Beowulf's friend and the inheritor of his kingdom) to lay with her, give her another son and continue the cycle of Beowulf and Hrothgar's reigns as kings. In the novelization of the movie, it is revealed that Wiglaf successfully resists her temptation and rejects her, foiling her plan for good.
